Hike 23

Starting point—Manitowoc
Ending point—Manitowoc
Distance—1.6 miles
Cumulative Distance—113.8 miles

Well, we've already racked up more hiking days (albeit not mileage) on the Ice Age Trail in 2016 than 2015. With an absolutely gorgeous day, temperature reaching 60 degrees, we headed back to Manitowoc for a bit more trail time.

When we were packing for the adventure, we discussed whether we should take strollers or backpack carriers. Dave's response was that it would be all roads or paved trail. (He later amended this to say he meant hard packed gravel trail.)

Well, we had perhaps a quarter mile or so of paved surface. Then we encountered some hard packed gravel. Then some ice. (AJ thought it was funny to have ice on the Ice Age Trail. We saw less humor in pushing strollers up a hill covered in ice.)

Then we got into the fun stuff with big steps, steep hills and the ultimate steep muddy hill. Let's just say it was a bit adventurous with strollers, and that made it a really fun hike. (In hindsight, backpack carriers would have been simpler and left a lot less mud on the car ride home.) 

We ended the hike a bit sooner than planned, so the boys could enjoy some quality time in a really neat park. Dave watched them while Kerry took the less muddy roads back to retrieve the car.

 

Although we might not have covered a lot of ground, it was well worth the drive for all the fun we had.

Hike 22

Starting point—Two Rivers
Ending point—Two Rivers
Distance—2.2 miles
Cumulative Distance—112.2 miles

With temperatures in the mid-40s, it was the perfect day to catch the section of Ice Age Trail through Woodland Dunes that we had to skip last time. (This portion of the trail was closed due to hunting season, so it was the first time we had to go out of order by skipping it.) It was a sunny day and absolutely gorgeous for a February hike.

In hindsight, our ice grippers would have been helpful for this hike because there was more ice than we expected (which was really none). We did a bit of slipping and sliding but no falls, so it worked out fine. 

The trail went through the woods, across a dune that looked like a meadow and then wove back through woods until we got to the hospital, which is where we had started our last hike. We saw a woodpecker and plenty of fake owls used to mark some of the other trails.

AJ enjoyed crossing the bridges and had fun narrating the hike. He got a chance to see how hard we were working when he hiked across the meadow on the way back. "Oh, this is slippery!"

Aside from Teddy being crabby the first half of the hike, it was a great way to spend time together enjoying the unseasonably warm winter day!

Hike 21

Starting point—Two Rivers
Ending point—Manitowoc
Distance—5.9 miles
Cumulative Distance—110 miles

Well, it took more than a year for us to get on the Ice Age Trail again, but we made it at least once in 2015. We took advantage of a sitter for our two boys and the relatively nice December weather and headed to the trail with the intention of knocking off about 5 miles.

We were waylaid from the start because the Woodland Dunes Nature Center and Preserve was closed for deer hunting season, and that's right where our hike should have started. Dave was frustrated that this is the first time we couldn't follow the trail in order because we had to skip the section to comply with the closure.

We caught the trail right outside the Preserve and still hiked about the same distance we had hoped. For December, it was a pretty nice day in the low 40s with plenty of sunshine. It was windy by Lake Michigan but much nicer a bit inland.

We enjoyed our time outside and the tour of Manitowoc as we weaved our way around new streets and familiar spots to David, who worked in Manitowoc for 8 years.

It was also really nice to have a friend come pick us up to shuttle us back to our car, so we didn't have to do a loop or shuttle multiple vehicles. 

Here's to hoping for more Ice Age Trail hiking in 2016! 
 
 

 

Hike 20

Starting point—Two Rivers
Ending point—Two Rivers
Distance—2 miles (a little more than 5 total with retracing to our car and the bridge detour) 
Cumulative Distance—104.1 miles

It was a gorgeous day for a hike, and it looks like it may have been one of our last summer-like days for the year. This Indian summer has been wonderful, so we were glad to get on the trail to enjoy it.

Our hike today led us through Two Rivers. For being a hike entirely through a town, it was a rather interesting and scenic hike. The old buildings would be so interesting to explore, although the demolition of the Hamilton building caused a detour from the official trail. The demolition meant a bridge was closed, so we did a bit of a detour to another bridge and back to the trail.

We were surprised by how many museums exist in Two Rivers. I think we found 4 (one related to wood printing, one for farming, an ice cream one and a fishing village) with 3 of those being right along the trail. The ice cream one was tempting.

Both boys enjoyed the hike along the trail, but Teddy was tired and a bit cantankerous for the retracing part to get back to the car. We're looking forward to the next section through the woods, hoping to get to it this fall without the bugs being bad at all.

 

AJ had the "silver camera" at the end. Here are some of the interesting pictures he took ... at least the ones that turned out :)  There are a lot of them, but I think it shows what a stroller hike (and the drive home) is through the eyes of a three-year old ...

Hike 19

Starting point—Point Beach State Forest
Ending point—Two Rivers
Distance— 7 miles (approximate)
Cumulative Distance—102.1 miles

Well, we didn't hike naked, but at least we hiked today. Given the multitude of mosquitoes, I don't think hiking naked for summer solstice would have been advisable. We missed out on the sunshine from the longest day of the year since it was overcast and quite foggy for most of our hike. We hoped the cooler temperatures in the low 60s would deter the mosquitoes, but they were even worse than last time for parts of the hike. However, we were a bit better prepared with mosquito netting for both backpack carriers. It worked really well, as Teddy escaped with only one bite. AJ didn't fare quite so well since he wasn't in the mosquito netting the whole time.

We ran into four patches of unexpected water. Kerry managed to stay mostly dry on the first crossing by carefully picking her way along the logs. Dave just sloshed through the water, which is what happened for all the rest of the crossings as they were too deep (mid-calf) to stay dry. At least it wasn't that chilly of a day that wet feet weren't a hindrance ... and AJ liked to say "squishy squashy" and "splish splash."

The last portion of the trail we hiked followed Lake Michigan. Although it was much cooler right by the water, the wind kept all the mosquitoes away. That made the hike much happier, as did the picnic and play break we took when we first reached the shore.

AJ was too busy being all boy, playing with sticks and looking at dead fish, to eat anything, but Teddy was quite happy to fill his belly. So happy, in fact, that he finally soundly slept the rest of the hike rather than squabbling like he had for at least a mile or two earlier. All those fish made a unique popping sound when you stepped on them.

We had a bit of a detour in the mosquito-filled woods prior to fording a stream because AJ lost his camera, which is really our digital camera. He removed it from the protective bag and dropped it, so we were backtracking several hundred feet. We decided to rip apart the backpack carrier to make sure it really fell and luckily found it wedged in the bottom underneath his feet.

The hike along the lake was quite enjoyable until we had to slosh through two crossings. At times, the trail had really nice bridges and paths, which is why we were somewhat surprised to end up with wet feet so many times.

As we hiked through Two Rivers, Dave spotted a baby raccoon along the road/trail. We're not sure why it was out and about in the middle of the day, but it was a cute critter for AJ to see.

We ended our hike in the park, and AJ loved playing on the slides and such that were just perfect size for him. Teddy hung out in the swing for a bit before we headed to Manitowoc for some post-hiking food.

Hike 18

Starting point—Point Beach State Forest
Ending point—Point Beach State Forest
Distance— 2 miles (4 miles total because we retraced our steps to get to our car)
Cumulative Distance— 95.1 miles

 We managed two hikes on the IAT within a week, which certainly is a record for us. We headed back to the trail with the boys before it got too warm Saturday. It was in the 70s and sunny, a perfect day for a hike. The trail was gorgeous, through flowers and pines and one sandy patch. We saw a snake slither away and a monarch butterfly, which AJ wanted to keep following.

The only real downside of the hike was the mosquitoes. I think all of us ended up with a few bites, although they seemed to like Dave the best. The boys were fairly protected in the backpack carriers. As everyone else has said this year, the bugs are much worse than usual. Swarms of mosquitoes is the only appropriate way to describe them unfortunately. (I now understand the phrase "as thick as mosquitoes.")

 

Aside from hiking a bit faster and taking fewer pictures to minimize blood loss to mosquitoes, it was a good hike. Point Beach State Forest looks like a gorgeous park where we should definitely spend some time.

Hike 17

Starting point—just outside of Mishicot
Ending point—Point Beach State Forest
Distance— 4.7 miles
Cumulative Distance— 93.1 miles

We spent part of our Memorial Day weekend enjoying gorgeous weather in the 70s on the Ice Age Trail. The boys were comfortable in their backpack carriers, and this was the first time we've used them for any considerable distance. 

Teddy managed to snooze in his carrier, in the same awkward position that AJ used to when he was younger, so he approves of his carrier. AJ loves riding in the backpack! He particularly likes to blow the whistle.

We were excited to make it to a section of "real" trail, which we'll be on for the foreseeable future, since we don't knock off too many miles at a time. The hike along the road was nice without too much traffic. The small portion we hiked on "real" trail was beautiful, minus the droves of mosquitoes. Amazingly, we walked away with one bite on David despite not wearing any bug spray. (But we won't tempt fate next time and will use bug spray!) This was among the worst Kerry has seen for swarms of mosquitoes, but the nicely constructed boardwalk kept us off their radar unless we stopped to snap a picture.

This was a wonderful way to spend part of our holiday weekend, and we're already plotting when we can get back on the trail in June!